At around 04:35 on 5 November, a Police Stradale unit from Pratola Peligna responded to reports of an armed robbery at the Monte Velino Sud service area on the A25 motorway. A female employee, described as in a strong state of agitation, said a man wearing a balaclava pointed a gun at her and took about 1,500 euros from the cash register. She also said she did not see a red cap on the gun’s barrel. Police immediately passed the clothing and balaclava description to the operations centre in L’Aquila to support searches, and later checked the footage. Video confirmed the incident happened as described. Investigators then reviewed internal and external surveillance systems, focusing on recordings from the area in the town of Magliano de’ Marsi near the time of the robbery. The cameras showed a vehicle passing twice in opposite directions. Checks allowed officers to identify the car and, during an external inspection, to find a black under-helmet or balaclava with white stripes on the rear seats, matching the footage. During searches, police also found an object compatible with the weapon used, described as an air-compressed pistol with no red cap. By 15:32, based on the elements gathered, the public prosecutor on duty at the Rieti Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the EU citizen be taken to the Casa Circondariale in Rieti pending a hearing for validation of the arrest. At the time of the stop, the man showed an electronic identity card without a microchip that had been removed deliberately. Because the microchip contains biometric data and fingerprints, police also filed a report against him in freedom for offences under articles 477 and 482 of the Italian criminal code. The suspect remains in custody in Rieti pending the convalidation hearing.